Separation
by hoagie
Summary: Summer vacation is going smoothly for Mandy until she finds herself in a situation she never thought possible, life without Billy. BillyxMandy
1. Chapter 1

Here it is the first chapter to my Billy and Mandy story that no one will read because this section is dead.

* * *

The Sun bore through the window and pink drapes of Mandy's bedroom, casting the inside of her room in a soft pink light. The light of day had stirred the ten year old girl to wake, as summer vacation had only just started a week ago and she was still used to waking up before dawn. Mandy sat up in bed and yawned, still in the process of waking up. The possibilities of an empty summer day raced through her mind, she had an entire day to do whatever she wanted.

Fighting the urge to lie back down and sleep a little longer, Mandy crawled out of Bed and began to dress. She threw on her customary pink dress and black shoes and then donned her black head band that somehow managed to hold her hairstyle together. Satisfied that she looked presentable, Mandy left her room for her kitchen.

Mandy found her mother in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee. Upon seeing her morbid and terrifying daughter Claire stood at attention. "Good, morning Mandy."

Mandy walked past her mother and sat down at the kitchen table. "Mother I require breakfast, coffee black, pancakes, bacon extra crispy."

Claire nervously turned away from her daughter and began hurriedly assembling Mandy's breakfast. While Mandy quite enjoyed the respect her parents afforded her she often grew tired of the obvious fear they displayed in front of her. She wondered why her parents couldn't be more like Billy and Grim who had long since learned that if they simply obeyed her they would usually have nothing to worry about.

With her breakfast finished Mandy decided to go to Billy's house, where Grim usually stayed. Perhaps Grim would find something interesting for them to do or at the very least Mandy could entertain herself by bludgeoning Billy with something.

Mandy opened her front door and was immediately hit by a wall of oppressive heat; the full force of summer had found Endsville. The short walk to Billy's house proved to be torture as the air was still and the sun was high in the sky, raining down heat on the streets and sidewalks of Endsville. When Mandy reached Billy's house she flung his front door open without bothering to knock to avoid the heat, not that she usually asked for permission to enter Billy's house.

Inside Billy's home Mandy found Grim as usual sitting on the couch watching T.V. Mandy joined the Grim Reaper on the couch without exchanging a word. Grim appeared to be completely absorbed by a soap opera. Although Mandy never laughed or smiled that didn't mean she couldn't see the humor in a supernatural being that was tens of thousands of years old being completely enthralled by a poorly written soap opera.

Mandy grew tired of the show almost immediately and turned towards Grim. "Grim, where's Billy?"

Unable to tear himself away from the T.V screen the reaper spoke. "Hush child can't you see dat I'm trying to watch my show."

Mandy crossed her arms and pouted in contempt. No one was allowed to ignore her not even the personification of death. Hopping off the couch Mandy moved to the side of the television and found its power cord; she grabbed the slack in the cord and lifted it up so that it was visible to Grim. The Reaper immediately understood the girl's threat. "Please, Mandy don't unplug it! Dat imbecile is up in his room trying to hatch a dragon egg."

Mandy raised an eyebrow "A dragon egg?"

"Yeah da boy thinks it's a chicken egg. I didn't tell him da truth because I thought he would leave me in peace to watch me stories, unlike you."

Mandy's normal apathetic frown shifted to one of anger. "Grim" she growled her voice conveying her rage and annoyance with him.

"Cool your jets girl. Dat eggs been in my trunk for thousands of years. The chances it will hatch are one in a billion."

Only seconds after Grim stopped speaking a thunderous crash was heard from upstairs followed by the sound of Billy screaming. Mandy glared at Grim again. "One in a billion huh?"

Grim returned a nervous smile, hoping the blonde girl wouldn't do anything drastic. Bad things always happened to him whenever harm came to Billy and he was found to be at fault.

The sound of Billy clumsily walking downstairs drew their attention. The boy's clothes were singed and still leaving small trails of smoke behind him. His baseball cap that never left his head was still on fire, but Billy appeared oblivious to it.

"Oh, hi Mandy!" Billy shouted with a big stupid grin on his face.

"Hey, Billy." Replied Mandy nonchalantly as if her friend wasn't on fire.

Billy turned his attention to the Grim Reaper. "Grim, my chicken flew away."

"I know mon." said Grim as he used his bony fingers to snuff out the flame on his hat.

With her arms still crossed Mandy spoke, her voice was only slightly judgmental. "Billy, that wasn't a chicken and for the record, chickens can't fly."

A distorted look of confusion appeared on Billy's face, he seemed to be in deep thought or whatever the Billy equivalent of it was. Suddenly the stupid smirk returned to his face. "Sure that was chicken, it hatched from an egg didn't it? I was gonna name her Becky but she burnt my room down and flew away."

Grim reached a fleshless hand up to his chin. "I wonder where dat chicken ended up anyway."

Mandy commented calmly. "Who cares as long as it's out of our hair."

As if it somehow knew they were speaking about it, Becky the dragon crashed into Billy's house. The head of the dragon that had reached full size in minutes crashed through the wall behind Billy's couch, .missing the group only by a couple of feet. The dragon let out a deafening roar that was followed by a torrent of fire. Almost immediately the temperature in the room became unbearable and all three ran outside through Billy's front door.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of Billy's home, the group of three watched as Becky burnt the house down. Grim spoke first. "So anyone want to go to the mall?"

Both Billy and Mandy replied in the positive and the trio began walking in the direction of the mall lead by Mandy.

Mandy felt up to going to the mall but she began to question the wisdom of letting a dragon roam free in her and Billy's neighborhood. Halting her forward movement without warning, Mandy felt Billy's large nose collide with the back of her head, as the foolish boy hadn't responded fast enough. This annoyed the blonde girl, but she decided to ignore Billy's stupid mistake as she had more pressing matters to deal with. Mandy turned around to face Grim.

"Grim, you're not coming."

"What?" the reaper interjected.

"Some ones got to stay behind and deal with the dragon."

Grim's bony face displayed his frustration. "Why do I have to take care of dat monster?"

"First off this mess isn't my fault and secondly Billy couldn't kill a dragon if he wanted to."

Billy chimed in, his cheery tone contrasted with his two friends. "I could never hurt Becky, she's my bestest pet ever."

"See grim like I said. Come on Billy let go to the mall." Billy and Mandy left Grim to his task; he could be heard mumbling under his breath as the pair walked away.

The two children walked to the Endsville mall together doing their best to ignore the brutal heat of day. Mandy noticed that the usually talkative Billy was being quiet for once. The heat appeared to be getting to him as he had his tongue hanging out of his mouth and was panting like a dog. In the absence of any "conversation" with Billy, Mandy's thoughts began to wander. Slowly her mind began to fixate on the fact that this walk with Billy was the first time she had been alone with him in what felt like years. She had know Billy for years before they had met and enslaved Grim, but lately they had grown so used to Grim's presence that times where they were alone together had become rare.

When Mandy was much younger and before she had Grim, she had hated lazy summer days like this because it meant that she would be stuck with Billy all day. As time went by and wretched school years came and went she found that in many ways Billy's company was superior to that of any of the other children in Endsville. Billy never cowered and ran away from her like most of the children and even some of the adults of Endsville. He never complained about how much she hit and abused him. He never tried to cover up for the fact that he was a boring person by blabbing on about what music he liked. Best of all Billy rarely if ever questioned her authority or dared to offer his own opinion on something. Mandy realized that in terms of obedience Billy was the best soldier she had. Sure, Grim was sworn to be their best friend forever and was infinitely more intelligent than Billy, but Mandy knew him. Grim would betray her if the stakes were high enough. Mandy doubted that Billy could even comprehend going against her. It was because of this that whenever Mandy fantasized about ruling the world, she always envisioned a place for him in her empire. Mandy reasoned, why waste such a loyal confidant or at least that was the excuse she gave herself.

The massive building that was the Endsville shopping mall loomed before the two children as they crossed onto its parking lot. The lot was a massive expanse in its own right, black pavement stretched as far as the eye could see. Much to her dismay Mandy saw that the lot was full of hundreds of cars, meaning the mall would be crowded inside. Mandy despised most if not everyone she had ever met, which meant that the crowds of people inside would dampen any enjoyment she would get from her venture.

Upon entering the shopping mall, Billy and Mandy were greeted by the modern marvel that was industrial air conditioning. The feeling of relief from the summer heat was shared by the two children, though only one of them showed any sign of it. Given the chance to cool off, Billy returned to his normal energetic and talkative ways. "So, Mandy where are we gonna go first? Cause I think we should go to the arcade…no wait lets go buy socks, let's go buy socks!"

With her usual frown fixed to her face, Mandy responded, her demeanor the polar opposite of her companion. "Were going to the food court."

"Ooh, so we can eat greasy mall food?" The blonde nodded her head up and down once in response, it being one of the more pleasant ways she ever communicated with him.

While Billy true to his word began to devour vast quantities of greasy fast food, Mandy had only a cold drink when she sat down across from him at a small table in the food court. Mandy watched Billy stuff his face in quiet amusement; watching Billy trying to eat was interesting to her in a morbid kind of way, like watching a car crash. This continued for some time till Mandy found the spectacle turn from being darkly interesting to just plain repulsive, like most things Billy did.

With his mouth still full, Billy was incapable of amusing Mandy by saying something stupid. Instead Mandy turned to one of her favorite pastimes; people watching and then thinking of brutal insults for said people. A few low life nerds drew her disdain till Mandy noticed a disturbing trend amongst the people in the mall. Nearly everyone at the mall had come with someone else. One after another she counted couples of one boy and one girl. Contempt filled Mandy's heart at the sight of it; she had always found personal and romantic relationships to be disgusting distractions that made you weak. The age of the couples ranged from middle aged people that reminded her of her parents to children no older than her and Billy.

Rather disturbingly Mandy realized that to the uniformed, it probably looked like she and Billy were a couple since they were seated together. The thought of her and Billy together like that made her shudder. Mandy thought of herself as the heartless future dictator of Earth. She had no need for relationships like that, especially with someone as stupid as Billy.

The irony was that as much as she hated the idea of her and Billy being a couple, there were people that thought they were. Grim especially liked to tease Mandy whenever she went and rescued Billy from whatever stupid trouble he got himself in. Mandy knew that Grim did it mostly to get back at her for treating him like a slave all the time but he really did seem to believe she had feelings Billy. She hated Grim for that; Mandy wondered why Grim didn't understand, it wasn't that she liked Billy like that it was just that she felt responsible for him. Like a puppy that's too stupid not to chase cars, Billy had to be constantly supervised so that he didn't kill himself.

Grim wasn't the only one that thought of her and Billy as an item. Despite the fact that they were only in grade school there were already numerous rumors about Mandy and Billy floating around. Most if not all of these rumors stemmed from Mindy, who even after several years still hadn't gotten over that Mandy had rejected her friendship.

"Hey, losers." A high pitched and snobby voice called out to Billy and Mandy. As if the universe was plotting against her, Mandy saw Mindy approaching their table. The red headed girl always showed up at the worst times.

Mindy's presence immediately put Mandy in a bad mood even for her. Although Mandy usually bested Mindy in the game of wits, that didn't mean she wanted anything to do with the girl, especially when it was just her and Billy. Without Grim or Irwin around Mindy became particularly vicious about the couple jokes.

Mindy stood by their table with a devilish grin on her face. "So, Mandy I see that you're here with your boy toy."

Unwilling to give her the satisfaction, Mandy concealed the rage she felt and kept her normal scowl fixed upon her face. "He's not my boy toy he's my slave."

In a mocking tone Mindy replied. "Oh, I'm sure he is and in case you couldn't tell that was sarcasm."

Rather than respond with an insult, Mandy decided to prove Mindy that Billy really was her slave.

Mandy slapped the back of Billy's head causing the contents of his mouth to spill out onto the table. "Ewww" shouted Mindy reactively.

"Billy say hello to Mindy." Billy turned to face the red headed girl. "Hey, Cindy!"

Mindy's mischievous grin turned into an expression of rage. She was the egotistical type, incapable of taking any slight against her name. "It's Mindy" she replied to Billy; her voice was tinged with annoyance.

"Dids you say your name was Wendy?"

"No, its Mindy!" she shouted.

"Oh, ok your name is Kenny."

"No, my name is Mindy!" By the third time she had corrected Billy, Mindy was screaming as loud as she could. This caused everyone in the food court to look over at the source of the noise. When Mindy finally realized that she had made a public spectacle of herself she simply gave up and walked away.

Though Mandy had been surprised by Mindy's public meltdown, it was pleasantly so. Billy had annoyed Mindy so much that she had completely flipped out. If she hadn't known better Mandy could have sworn Billy had planned that, then again…

"Hey Mandy" Billy asked, drawing the blonde to look at the boy seated across from her. "Did you see? I made Mindy go away."

Mandy was stunned he had just said Mindy which meant that he had known her name the whole time, he was just screwing with her. Maybe her big nosed compatriot wasn't as stupid as he let on. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but good job Billy."

Mandy thought her last sentence over, she couldn't remember a time she had ever complimented Billy before without being facetious.

With her drink finished and Billy seemingly finished his meal as well, Mandy decided to leave the mall before Mindy came back. Mandy stood up from the small table and began to walk away without speaking a word to Billy. Billy, as Mandy expected fell in behind her like a puppy.

The return trip home proved even worse than the one to the mall. It was mid afternoon and the heat of the day had only intensified. Despite her wishes Mandy felt her body begin to sweat. It annoyed her as she found that particular bodily function disgusting and perspiration went against the cold and detached look she strove for.

Billy and Mandy found Grim sitting on the curb in front of Billy's house or what was left of it. The house was reduced to a frame of burnt timber. Standing up to greet the children, the Reaper walked over to them with his scythe in his hands, sunlight bounced off the blade making the supernatural weapon look even more ominous than usual. "I killed da dragon, but da boy's home is done for."

Mandy eyed Grim suspiciously. "How do I know that you really killed the dragon?"

The Reaper sighed in annoyance before her reached into his robe and pulled out the severed head that once belonged to Becky. The skull was large, too large Mandy noticed, to have fit in Grim's robe but then again none of Grim's possessions obeyed the laws of physics.

Billy caught sight of Grim's trophy and fell to his knees sobbing. "Becky, no!. I loveds you, I loveds you so much!"

The boy cried on for some time showing greater concern for losing the dragon that had tried to kill him than losing his house and all of his possession.

Mandy and Grim watched Billy sob uncontrollably. "If I didn't already know how dumb da boy was, I would say this heat is getting to him. You know what, he's not da only one. Please Mandy can we go to your house and get out from under da sun."

Mandy spoke her voice full of disgust. "Why would I let… hold on"

Mandy stopped midsentence to slap Billy which put an end to his sobbing. "Why would I let you idiots inside my house?"

"Well da place me and Billy usually stay in is umm, well you know." Grim gestured to the smoldering wreck behind him.

"Then you shouldn't have let Billy" house burn down."

Excusing himself Grim replied. "I'm da Grim reaper, not a firefighter."

"Then you should have called the fire department."

"Oh, come on Mandy you know that they stopped taking 911 calls from this neighborhood a long time ago."

Mandy let out an annoyed growl before she spoke. "Fine, I suppose I can't let an idiot and the Grim Reaper wander the streets all night. Come on morons." Billy as usual tailed behind Mandy as soon as she began to move.

"Oh boy a sleepover I can't wait!"

Mandy lead Billy and Grim to her front door and opened it with a care she hadn't extended to Billy's house. Immediately to her left Mandy saw her parents sitting on the couch watching T.V. Calmly strolling up to them, Mandy stood before Phillip and Claire blocking their view of the screen. "Mother, Father I need this room."

"Sure thing Mandy." Her father sputtered. The frightened couple stood up and walked away holding each other. Mandy glared at them till they left the room.

"Peons" she muttered casually.

The trio sat on Mandy's couch and watched Horror movies in silence. Mandy was seated in the middle with Grim to her left and Billy to her right. While Grim and Mandy found the movie entertaining enough, Mandy noticed Billy begin to fidget in his seat. Mandy did her best to ignore the idiot but his fidgeting had only intensified and he began to moan in exasperation. "Billy, what's your problem?"

"I'm bored cant we play a game or somethin?"

Mandy let out an annoyed sigh; she knew that once Billy's feeble attention span ran out there was little chance of getting him to shut up. "What kind of game?"

"I know how bouts Risk?"

"Are you sure Billy? Cause even when you and Grim team up against me you idiots still lose."

Overhearing the slight against him, Grim spoke up. "Hey, we can beat you. No one's invincible."

Grim, I'm thirty seven and o against you losers." "Yeah, well today's da day you lose." Mandy stared at the Reaper and spoke her voice as cold as ever. "I never lose."

Only fifteen minutes in and Billy and Grim's situation was teetering on the brink of disaster. Mandy had taken the initiative early and launched an offensive that had driven the combined forces of Billy and Grim out of Western Europe. Though they still had significant forces in Eastern Europe; Mandy sensed that Her victory was inevitable.

"Ready to give in Boys?"

Grim glared back at Mandy, his voice was full of childish indignation. "Were not beat yet we still have armies in the Ukraine."

Mandy folded her arms and replied "The Ukraine is weak."

"Hey!" Billy cried out. "I come from Ukraine you can't say Ukraine is weak."

"Billy, you were born in America."

"Oh, Yeah." Said the redhead as he lifted his cap and scratched the top of his head.

As she had predicted, Mandy's victory was quick and absolute. This wasn't isolated to just Risk either. Out of foolish pride Grim and Billy (mostly Grim) challenged Mandy to any game they could find. Chess, checkers, poke, no matter the game the outcome was the same. This continued for some time till the sun went down and grim grew tired of losing.

The trio returned to watching T.V around 8:30 at night. Mandy had remembered hearing that the television premier of Exploding Penguins 4 Avian shaped charge would come on at 9:00 pm and she was determined to watch it. Having returned to their previous seating arrangement, the group waited for the nine o clock hour in relative silence until Grim's cell phone rang. The phone played a cheery ring tone that was unsuited to its owner. Grim pulled the under worldly device from his robe and answered it. Billy and Mandy listened in on the Reapers call, judging by his vice he was not happy and the look on his fleshless face confirmed it.

A little while later Grim put his phone away and stood up. "I gotta go to work kids. You mortals never pick a convenient time to die."

Ordinarily Mandy would have been irritated to have one of her slaves leave but Grim's attempts to best her at every game he could find had annoyed her. Grim left out the front door and closed it behind him. For the second time that day Mandy found herself alone with Billy, she felt strangely content with that fact.

Mandy assessed the situation and decided now was the time to gather what she and Billy needed to sleep tonight, before the movie started. "Billy, I'm going to get some things from my room, don't follow me."

"Okay Mandy."

Past experiences involving stink bombs had taught Mandy that Billy was capable of destroying entire Rooms in seconds; because of this Mandy made it a policy to never let Billy in her room ever again. In her room Mandy changed out of her usual daytime clothes into pajamas she was willing to be seen in. Next Mandy grabbed her sleeping bag plus the childish Dinobinoids sleeping bag that Billy never remembered to take home with him.

Billy greeted Mandy with a smile when she returned from her room. Evidently in the two minutes she had been gone he had missed her. Mandy threw the Dinobinoids themed bag at Billy and then set her own up in front of her couch so that she could lie down and look up at her massive Television set. Shortly after Billy did the same to the left of Mandy putting him a little closer to her than she would have liked.

The movie finally started and the two kids watched the screen, captivated by the exploding birds. Every time a penguin went off it was followed by the sound if Billy laughing; the spectacle was hilarious to Billy. Mandy on the other hand never laughed, she just liked watching explosions.

Though one would find it hard to believe, Exploding Penguins four was a feature length movie that consisted of nothing but exploding penguins. Since the movie was being broadcast on basic cable that meant there would be commercials, lot of commercials. Each commercial break there was an awkward silence between the children as Grim wasn't there with them. Mandy was far too stoic to show it but lying next to Billy with nothing else to occupy her mind put her in a nervous mood. Judging by the way Billy's had returned he was feeling it too.

The awkwardness of the situation made each commercial break feel even longer, eventually it got to the point that the red head blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Mandy, do you remember when you were a cheerleader?"

The question surprised Mandy, that particular episode was something she had tried to forget. She enjoyed being the football coach in proxy but the title head cheerleader and the outfit that came with it was something she despised. Rather than show weakness and admit that she had hated that incident, Mandy spoke of the one positive it brought her. "I remember Mindy hated me more than ever because of it."

"Yeah, she was just jealous because you were better than her; you were prettier than her too."

Mandy was shocked, did Billy really just say what she thought he did. Against her will Mandy felt her face flush and her heart flutter. The awkward silence returned but Mandy hardly noticed. She was lost in her thoughts. Judging by Billy's jovial voice he hadn't noticed the significance of what he had just said; never the less Billy's compliment had affected her. This alarmed Mandy as she had always thought that she was above being flattered. Irwin always showered her compliments in a feeble attempt to get her to warm up to him, but they never worked. Why would Billy doing the same actually have an effect of her?

The commercials came to an end and the movie resumed. This put a damper on the awkwardness of the situation for Mandy. The problem was another commercial break was inevitable and she would be thrown back into the same situation.

Rather than pay attention to the movie, Mandy thought inwardly. Billy said something stupid but she hadn't made him pay for it. She wondered why, perhaps it was because Billy's compliment had simply blindsided her and she was too shocked to respond. That sounded plausible but when she thought about it, Billy had done plenty of stupid things in the past, neither of which she could have predicted and yet she had always punished him anyway. Though it sickened her greatly the only good explanation was that she had liked Billy telling her that she was pretty.

Mandy pondered over hitting Billy now, but she realized that too much time had passed since he complimented her. Billy wouldn't be able to connect the pain to what he had said. Plus there was a strange desire in her to just let it slide; this desire seemed to exist outside of any logic.

The sound of Billy laughing finally brought Mandy's attention back to the movie. A penguin exploded only to have his replacement waddle into frame, the replacement penguin wore a bandoleer covered in ammunition and grenades. The penguin adjacent to the replacement blew up launching the grenade laden penguin into the air before he too exploded raining grenades and other explosives onto all the penguins beneath him. Mandy had questioned just how creative the fourth movie in the series could be, evidently her doubts were unfounded.

The penguin based chaos continued a little while longer but eventually another commercial break came. Mandy was thrown back into another awkward silence with Billy. She wondered if Billy felt the same, Billy usually never cared for or upheld societal norms; it was one of the few things Mandy almost respected him for. Still he wasn't speaking which was odd for him and he was still fidgeting like before.

Mandy contemplated saying or doing something to alleviate the situation but couldn't think of what. Slowly Mandy turned her head to the left to look at Billy but a particularly loud and obnoxious commercial drew her focus back to the screen. _"Hey, kids do you like clowns?"_

The screen flashed with images of clowns, causing Billy to let out a high pitched scream and fling himself at Mandy. Billy clung to her desperately as terror caused him to seek comfort from his friend. "Billy you have three seconds to let go of me before…"

"_Then you're going to love clowns on ice!" _The television showed a figure skater dressed as a clown jump into the air, spin round three times and then land smoothly. This time it was Mandy who felt an uncontrollable terror wash over her. Mandy wrapped her arms around Billy without thought and the two friends held each other in desperation as their personal fears had merged into a mutual phobia.

The commercial came to an end but the two kids continued to cling to each other. Slowly Mandy calmed down and came to her senses. It finally dawned on her that she had Billy in her arms and that she had sought comfort in his presence. Mandy let go of Billy in disgust and then gave him a hard shove sending him a feet to her left.

"Stay over there Billy." As expected the awkward silence returned only this time it was ten times worse.

The situation had grown so uncomfortable that Mandy gave up on watching the movie and turned the T.V off. The room was cast in darkness and Mandy curled up in her sleeping bag in an attempt to sleep. As Mandy had feared, sleep didn't come; her thoughts were racing with what had just happened between her and Billy. First of all there was the nonchalant manner in which he had complimented her and how against her wishes she had appreciated it. Then there was the clowns on ice incident; the pair had clung to each other in pure terror. What really worried Mandy was that after the commercial had ended and her fear had subsided she had held onto him for a couple seconds longer anyway. It disgusted her greatly but she had found their embrace to be oddly pleasant.

"Mandy" she heard Billy call out to her.

"What?" Mandy replied sounding every bit as annoyed as she was.

"I'm still scared."

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Can I sleep next to you?"

"What!"

"Well at home Grim or Milkshakes always sleeps next to me."

"Billy just be quiet and go to sleep, you'll be fine."

"But it's dark and I'm alone."

"You're not alone you idiot your five feet away from me."

"Yeah, but I can't see or feel you and its really dark." Billy's voice was pathetic and nearly drew sympathy from Mandy but the events of the night had angered her.

Mandy did her best to ignore Billy and silence filled the room for about three seconds before Billy spoke again. "Please, please, please, Mandy."

"No!"

"Pretty please with yogurt on top."

"Pleeezzuh Mandy." Mandy was angry with him but she knew how much energy Billy could have, he wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Fine, you can move closer but if you touch me I'll rip your nose off."

In the darkness Mandy could hear Billy shuffle over closer to her. Though her eyes were useless to her, Mandy could sense Billy coming closer. Eventually Billy stopped moving and lay down to sleep. Mandy guessed that he had moved as close to her as possible without actually touching her. His proximity irritated her but since he had technically still obeyed her, she decided to let it go and just go to sleep.

An obnoxiously hard knock woke Mandy forcing her to answer her front door. The light of morning was blinding at first but eventually Mandy's eyes adjusted enough to see Billy's father Harold, standing at her doorstep. Since Harold was only a larger, slightly less stupid version of his son the stupid exuberance he showed knocking on someone's door made sense. "Hey, Mandy is Billy here?"

In a sleep deprived daze Mandy could only nod her head up and down in response. Mandy walked back over in front of her couch where Billy was still sleeping. "Get up Billy, your dads here."

There was no response from Billy who continued sleeping peacefully. Rather than try to speak to him again, Mandy gave Billy a hard kick to the stomach. This time Billy woke up; rolling over onto his stomach and then raising himself onto his hands and knees, Billy let a couple hacking coughs before he looked up at Mandy. "Hey Mandy!"

Mandy pointed in the direction of her front door and spoke. "Your dad is here." Billy stood up and approached his father.

"Hi, dad."

"Hey son, are you ready to go?"

"Go where?" Billy asked.

"Oh didn't I tell you? The navy reinstated my SEAL team. Were moving to the west coast." "Moving?" Billy asked his voice nothing but a pathetic whimper.

She had heard the words, but that didn't mean she believed them. She had fantasized about being free from Billy when she was younger but now that she knew better, now that she had grown used to him, she didn't want it. Deep inside Mandy something snapped, an emotion she had never felt before was turned loose. She didn't know what to call it; she didn't know what to do. All Mandy could manage was to look at the boy who had lived next to her all her life and wonder if this was the last time she would ever see him. Billy turned round to face his friend; there were already tears in his eyes. Without Warning Billy wrapped his arms around her and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Mandy, I don't want to go!"

In the past Mandy had usually tolerated Billy's touch for a few seconds before hitting him. Now, no matter how much she wished it, Mandy found that she couldn't push him away. Mandy stood still allowing Billy to hold on to her, She felt that she should say something but nothing came to her lips, instead she raised her arms up and ever so softly brought them in contact with Billy's back. Billy's hold on her only tightened, though he was an idiot Billy knew her better than anyone, he knew that Mandy's awkwardly soft hug spoke volumes. Mandy's never gave affection to anyone ever, so for Billy to feel her hug him back meant everything to the red head. Billy and Mandy clung to each other in a morbid silence that was shattered by the honking of a cars horn.

"Come on Billy and Harold, hurry up!"

Gladys was waiting outside for them. Billy's mother was eager to finally get away from Mandy and Grim. Mandy hated Gladys more than ever now. Billy backed away from Mandy breaking their embrace. Though he was still sniffling Billy looked Mandy in the eyes and spoke. "Good bye Mandy."

Mandy wanted to speak, she even knew what to say, but when she tried no words came out. Strangely, speaking had become one of the hardest things she had ever tried. Billy flashed her a smile as if he knew what was going on in her head and then left her house. Mandy followed him out to her front yard and watched him climb into the back seat of his parent's car. As the sedan pulled away from their neighborhood, Mandy saw Billy turn round inside and take one last look at her. Finally now that it was too late, she felt free to speak. "Good bye Billy."

* * *

In case anyone cares and they aren't as obsessed with Billy and Mandy as much as I am. I can back up some of the more ridiculous parts of this story. The idea of Mandy being scared sounds absurd but in Attack of the clowns its stated that Mandy is afraid of professional figure skaters. And in dream mutt its mentioned that Billy's dad used to be a Navy SEAL. Sorry about the Seinfeld reference, it kinda just happened.


	2. Chapter 2

There's a dream sequence in this chapter that I feel I didn't do the greatest job of transitioning to so if the story gets real different its because Mandy's dreaming.

* * *

Mandy woke in her bed, this time roused not by sunlight but by her own internal rhythm. It was overcast outside showering the world in dull grey light. Mandy liked bleak days like this, but this morning she couldn't bring herself to care.

The memories of Billy's departure were still fresh and she didn't know what to make of them. When she heard that Billy was leaving it had affected her in ways she couldn't grasp, there was an overflow of emotions she didn't know or recognize. Not only were the emotions themselves unpleasant but the fact that she was feeling them in the first place deeply concerned Mandy. Billy's tearful goodbye had left her speechless and now as she laid in bed thinking about it the unpleasant emotions came rushing back. Mandy thought to herself "I'm not supposed to feel like this, I'm not supposed to feel sad."

Mandy rose from her bed. Though she didn't know why, Mandy knew that lying in bed and thinking about Billy would only make her feel worse. Going through her morning routine, Mandy realized that there were immediate positives to Billy's absence. For the first time in her life she would be free to relax and read a book or more importantly plot something greater like world conquest.

Since it was still early in the day; Mandy decided to start with some light reading. Mandy grabbed her two newly acquired books, _The Armored Offensive_ and _The Basics of Infantry Combat _with her outside. World domination had long been chief of Mandy's aspirations and while she believed that she could gain power in a single nation without bloodshed, control of the world was impossible without military action.

Mandy walked out the back of her house into the backyard. Mandy had always enjoyed lounging outside and reading in peace but in the past Billy had only allowed her to read for about five minutes before he showed up. There was a set of lawn chairs in the backyard that Phillip and Claire had bought, not that they used them as most of their time was spent hiding from their daughter.

Mandy set up on one the loungers and placed her books next to her. Picking up where she had left off Mandy opened _The Armored Offensive_. _"While military experts have long predicted the demise of the tank due to advances in shoulder fired rockets and attack helicopters…"_ The sound of twig snapping radiated throughout Mandy's backyard causing her to look up from her book. There was no one in the backyard except for her, though she knew Billy was gone she had half expected him to show up and bug her while she read. "_They have overlooked the fact the tanks chief asset is not the protection of its armor but its mobility and the firepower of its main gun."_ A giggle became audible to Mandy and broke her concentration again. Just as before when she looked up there was no one else there.

Mandy wondered if she washallucinating, every time she had tried to read in the past Billy had interrupted her, maybe she was so used to having Billy show up that her brain couldn't grasp that he wasn't coming. A disturbing thought crossed Mandy's mind, What if all those times she had tried to read in peace in the past she was really just waiting for Billy to show up. Though she'd hate to admit it, it made some sense. With that disturbing revelation sinking in Mandy found reading on to be impossible. Mandy packed up her books and headed inside, it was about time she found out what the bonehead was up to.

The Reaper sat on Mandy's couch; not watching T.V but sharpening his scythe. Sparks flew off the mythical weapon as he ran a sharpening block along the edge. On a normal day such a display of any weapon would be at the least somewhat entertaining to Mandy. Today however, her inability to concentrate on her reading and lingering memories about a certain big nosed idiot had left her frustrated and angry.

Mandy was about to "Educate" Grim on the negatives of spreading tiny metallic shards of a supernatural weapon in her living room when the doorbell rang and broke her train of thought. Absentmindedly Mandy opened her front door only to be greeted by the person she wanted to deal with the least of all. "Yo, Mandy what are you up to?"

The sight of Irwin instantly made Mandy's foul mood worse. "Nothing that concerns you Irwin."

Ignoring the obvious contempt in her voice, Irwin showed Mandy a smile. "Aww, don't be like that Mandy, especially now that Billy's gone yo."

"How would you know about that?" "Oh Mandy when it comes to you, I always have my sources." The creepy statement turned Mandy's hands into fists. She didn't like the idea of someone spying on her, especially Irwin.

"So now that Billy's out of the picture how about me and you do something today." At a speed she hadn't thought possible Mandy buried her fist onto Irwin's stomach forcing all the air out of his lungs. The nerd fell to his knees gasping for air, only to have the door slammed in his face. Mandy managed to strike Irwin an average of three times a week but that was different, even for Mandy the blow had been savage. The phrase "Now that Billy's out of the picture" had made her violently angry and she didn't like what her reaction suggested.

Doing her best to ignore the distractions around her Mandy secluded herself in her room. Her plans for world domination hadn't advanced for years, now she finally had the time to work on them. The first step, Mandy reasoned was to gain control of the United States. She could attempt to run for office but Mandy realized that to be elected to the office of president one had to be likeable. Likeability was more important that even intelligence or experience. (Not a comment on any particular president, the author hates all politicians equally) Since there were only two people in the whole world that liked her, Mandy saw that a conventional political career wasn't for her. The second option was rebellion or an uprising of sorts. If she could manage a splinter state or perhaps use a political movement to her advantage then perhaps she could take power in the United State by force. From there she could use the Military strength of America and perhaps the rest of the western world to her advantage. It all sounded so simple, she knew of course that it wasn't but with her plan laid out like that it was hard not to drift off and fantasize about what it would be like to rule the world.

She would build a new capitol building, sprawling complex out in the middle of nowhere, where no one could bother her. The complex would be grandiose in scale but subtle in design. Around it would be the most sophisticated air defense network ever devised; on the ground at least three divisions of armor and mechanized infantry would be patrolling round the complex to ensure the empress went undisturbed.

Inside the complex would be sparsely furnished except for the Mandy's personal chambers and possibly the living quarters of a few servants. Billy would have his own living space near Mandy's that he could fill with whatever stupid objects he desired…Mandy's conscious mind caught up with her day dreams. Billy wasn't part of her life anymore and she had no idea if she would see him again. Mandy figured if she took control of the planet, tracking down the big nosed imbecile would pose no problem, but this did nothing to answer the big question floating around in her mind.

Why did she care so much about keeping Billy near her in her vision of the future? Her last day dream wasn't an isolated incident, previous fantasizes had always included Billy living with her or tagging along as she subjugated the world. Maybe it was because she had lived next door to him her whole life and now it was hard for her to imagine life any other way.

Disgusted with herself and her inability to focus on her plans; Mandy gave up on plotting and lied down on her bed. She had been up for only an hour but her eye lids grew heavy as her thoughts drifted off.

After three weeks they had finally pushed the enemy back. The old prison; a decaying relic from the early 20th century had been the key stronghold in their defensive line. Mandy looked the old building over, She wanted to enjoy looking over her newest conquest. Her personal guard was not happy as the enemy had fled the prison only a few hours ago. The exchange of automatic weapons could still be heard in the distance as Mandy walked through the gate that lead into the prison's courtyard. The courtyard that was positioned between the cell blocks and the massive stone exterior walls had been as a staging area by the enemy. There were a few of the enemy dead left behind along with a series of mortar tubes and other artillery pieces they had been forced to abandon.

Atop the exterior walls were guard towers that Mandy's forces had already posted forward observers in. She could see them chatting away on their radios calling in artillery and air strikes. Sure enough Mandy could hear the sound of low flying attack aircraft coming from behind her before she entered the interior of the old building.

Some of the soldiers that had finally taken the prison were waiting for Mandy inside. A shock trooper covered in weapons and armor bowed before she spoke to Mandy. "Empress, we found an enemy soldier locked up in one of the cells. He says that he was put in there by his own troops. Should we execute him or do you want to interrogate him further?"

Mandy thought the question over. The troops that had fought against her in this prison had pushed her timetable back by three weeks. The soldier locked in a cell could provide the opportunity for some revenge. "Leave him be, I'd like to see what other information I could extract from him."

The shock trooper responded "Yes, Empress." Before he rejoined the rest of his squad who were busily refilling the magazines they had emptied while taking the prison.

The short walk to the cell block where the enemy soldier was being held proved somewhat depressing. The prison; a decaying holdover from the early 20th century was even worse for wear thanks to the damage it sustained during the battle. Nevertheless there was a morbid feeling to the old building that Mandy found attractive.

Mandy and her bodyguard finally found the cell with the imprisoned soldier. Mandy took the time to draw her pistol and screw on a silencer. She had found over the years that the sight of a suppressed pistol did more to communicate the severity of a situation then any words ever could. With her weapon ready, Mandy stepped into the jail cell.

The lone soldier was sitting in a corner with his head hung low staring at the concrete floor. The only distinguishing feature visible was the red stubble growing on his recently buzzed head. Mandy took another step forward and flicked the safety off on her pistol causing a metallic click to echo in the concrete cell. The red headed soldier looked up to see who had joined him in his cell only to have his jaw drop and his eyes grow wide. His voice was pathetic and weak as the last time she saw him; Billy stammered until he finally squeaked out her name. "Mandy"

Mandy was shocked, after sixteen years she was starring at her childhood friend again, the only friend she had ever had actually. Billy had grown since she had last seen him that was for sure. His face had changed to appear far more masculine then when he was a boy but it was definitely still Billy; he still had a nose that was too big for his head.

The pair exchanged awkward glances until Mandy came back to her senses. Mandy poked her head out of the cell to find her bodyguard still waiting outside. "Leave me" Mandy spoke.

A confused look grew on her guards face." "Empress, with all due respect we haven't even finished clearing the building yet and…"

Mandy cut him off. "Would you prefer to fight on the front lines again instead of guarding me, because that could be arranged?"

The bodyguard took the message and began walking back in the direction they had come from. Mandy turned back around and placed her gun on the bed Billy had elected not to use. Billy was still sitting in the corner looking up at her. Mandy was at a loss for words, she had long assumed that Billy had died, another bystander caught in the crossfire. To see him before her now was a surprise and though she'd hate to admit it a pleasant one.

The question of what to say crept into Mandy's mind. When they were kids she had almost always spoken to him with venom and disrespect, she had never learned to speak with him without being mean. Though she didn't want to now, she realized that she could only do what she had always done to him, give him grief.

"Billy, why the hell are you wearing that uniform?"Billy was wearing the uniform of the army that was sworn to stop her and she wanted to know why. To her astonishment Billy flashed her smile like he knew what she was doing. It hadn't occurred to Mandy that the mean and bossy Mandy was the only one he knew. Mandy had wanted to be nice to him after 16 years, but ended up being mean anyway. Despite this Billy seemed happy anyway which Made Mandy feel like she was ten again.

"They made me join their army, they said you were gonna enslave humanity." While the red head looked up at his long lost friend Mandy looked back. In the earlier excitement Mandy hadn't noticed that Billy had a large gash above his right eye that was still bleeding. The soldiers that had stumbled across Billy had probably given him a good beating while they interrogated him. They hadn't known that Billy was an idiot that would tell them whatever they wanted.

"I kept telling them you were my friend and that you wouldn't take over the world, but they wouldn't listen and they locked me in here. That's okay though because you found me."

Even after sixteen years Billy still thought of positively of her. He had even tried to defend her in front of people that hated her. Billy was lucky they hadn't just killed him instead of locking him up. Mandy wondered if he still obeyed her every command. "Billy, stand up!"

The big nosed idiot hauled himself to his feet without question. The idea that Billy still adored her and obeyed her no matter what made Mandy feel happy; an emotion she was not at all used to. Succumbing to an inexplicable urge to move closer to Billy, Mandy moved herself till she was about a foot away from him. She hadn't noticed till now but Billy had grown to be taller than her. Though she realized that it made sense that a male would grow up to be taller than her, it was still something of a surprise that Billy would surpass her in height. When they were children they had always been the same height.

"You got a lot bigger Billy" said Mandy having finally found something pleasant to say to him.

"You changed to" said Billy nervously.

"How so?"

Billy broke eye contact and looked down to his feet causing small drops of blood to land by his feet. "You're even prettier than the last time I saw you."

The memories of their last time together came rushing back and Mandy swore she felt as awkward now as she had then.

"Mandy" Billy asked to get her attention.

"Yeah, Billy"

"Can I join your army? I don't like the one I'm in now." The urge Mandy felt to get closer to Billy came back stronger than before and this time she simply stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. Billy went stiff for a second in surprise before he returned the hug. Mandy buried her face in Billy's chest and tightened her hold on him. Billy raised his head rested it on top of Mandy's. Small drops of blood began to drip into her hair but she didn't care. The disgusting things Billy did or that came from his body were a small price to pay to have him with her again. "You can join my army Billy, but you have to promise that you will never leave me ever again."

The mid afternoon sun fought its way through the clouds and landed on Mandy's eyelids. The blonde girl woke up drenched in sweat, whether it was the heat of the sun or the contents of her dreams that caused it remained to be seen. Fairly disgusted with the dampness of her clothes and her bed sheets, Mandy got out of her bed and headed for her bathroom for a shower. The seclusion of the shower and sound of falling water made Mandy fee isolated, forcing her to confront her thoughts. To dream about Billy was one thing to dream about being reunited with him and her being the one that initiated physical contact was another. Between the dream and her inability to concentrate on anything other than Billy, Mandy had to admit to herself that she missed him.

Mandy stepped out of the shower and dried herself off before she headed back to her room. Once she was inside her room, Mandy opened her closet in search for something to wear. Inside the closet there was her usual array of pink dresses, Mandy rifled through her wardrobe until she saw it.

Their lying on the floor of closet was the Dinobinoids sleeping bag that Belonged to Billy. He had forgotten it when her left earlier and Mandy had dragged into her room before she went back to sleep because of how early Billy's dad had showed up. Mandy picked up the sleeping bag, now only a memento of her slave/companion. Much to her dismay it still smelled like Billy, which was unpleasant in two different ways. First the boy's scent had never been pleasant and secondly the smell flooded her mind with memories of Billy. Despite her wishes to be an emotionless vector; Mandy couldn't help but feel sentimental as she remembered all the times she and Billy had hung out or got into trouble. Concerned that she was growing soft, Mandy picked an outfit and threw it on. Mandy decided she had to get out of her house and do something before she began to feel emotion again.


End file.
